I’ve written before about the role teachers play in transatlantic relations (see, for example, this post and this one), and I teach about the EU in my classes, but this year I wanted to take it a step further- I decided to take my students to Brussels. For one week (July 8-15), I’ll be taking eight students on a study trip to learn about the EU and transatlantic relations.  During that time, we’ll be visiting the following places:

• The EU Council (thanks to Alexandra Ekkelenkamp and Dominique Bryan for helping to coordinate this visit)
• The Permanent Representation of Sweden to the EU (thanks to Anna-Charlotta Erikson for helping to coordinate this visit)
• The European External Action Service (thanks to Nicole Meijer for helping to coordinate this visit)
• The European Parliament (thanks to Kirsten Jongberg for helping to coordinate this visit)
• The European Committee of the Regions (thanks to Katie Owens and Francoise Dumont for helping to coordinate this visit)
• Sweden’s Social Democrats in the European Parliament (thanks to Helena Strandberg-Luthi and Elisabeth Gehrke for helping to coordinate this visit, and thanks to MEP Jytte Guteland for agreeing to meet with us)
• Deutsche Welle (thanks to Steffi Rosenbusch and Maximilian Hofmann for helping to coordinate this visit)
• US Mission to the EU (unfortunately, they had to cancel our visit due to last-minute obligations)
• #EUTweetUp (thanks to Jon Worth and Katie Owens for helping to coordinate this)
• The House of European History
• Bruges

To help them prepare, we met once a month, read a number of articles/papers, and visited the websites of each of the places.  I also created a Twitter list of the places we’ll be visiting and some of the people we’ll be meeting.

During our time there, my students and I will be sharing our experiences via social media and this blog.  To begin with, I had them write a paragraph about what they hoped to gain out of the trip.  Here are six of the responses:

Katie B.
I am so excited that my first time traveling to another country is to Brussels for this EU study trip! This trip is so full of wonderful opportunities and I’m so grateful I am able to participate. One thing I am especially looking forward to is our meeting with Sweden’s representative to the EU. I admire Sweden’s feminist approach to foreign policy, it is so comprehensive and well thought out and their execution is incredibly effective. I really think it is one of the main reasons they are such a successful, democratic, and advanced nation, so I hope to ask a lot of questions and gain a lot of information from that meeting. I am also really excited for our day trip to Bruges! The history behind art and architecture fascinates me, so Bruges, with its rich history and and gorgeous architecture, has been a dream destination of mine. There are so many wonderful things planned for the trip, and I can’t wait to go and experience it all next month!

Andy K.
In my entire life I have never been more excited about a trip and the prospects that it holds. As someone who is deeply passionate about politics, I relish at this amazing opportunity that this trip will give me to explore international relations.  I may not always agree on everything that the European Union does, however I must grasp a deeper knowledge on how it functions productively while balancing the wants of sovereign nations. Within this, I am specifically curious on economic policy and trade. For instance how does the EU ensure that trade agreements are beneficial to all member states with each individual state having diversified economies? Questions like this fascinate me and I hope I can get answers about them. On a different note I am looking forward to immersing myself in the culture of Brussels. For many years I have wanted to go to Europe and finally this trip gives me the chance to personally experience it. In conclusion I can’t wait for the knowledge that this trip will equip me with and the lifelong memories that I will make.

Julia P.
I’m super excited to not only see the past- the beautiful buildings and streets of the city- but also the future. I look forward to meeting with representatives from Sweden and the US missions to the EU and NATO to talk with them about what is happening now and their plans to change the world. I’d love to ask them how the Trump presidency has changed their personal experiences and/or altered their jobs. As this is a field I am considering for a career, I’d also like to ask them what their job entails on a day to day basis. Additionally, I hope to gain a broader, more internationally based knowledge on US issues. Living in the US can make a sheltered view on these topics, and I’m very interested to see how the international community views things such as border control, refugees, and healthcare. Lastly, I hope to also get to know the city of Brussels itself, and really experience the culture and pulse of this beautiful city. I’m looking forward to the trip!!

Bailey A.
You are not often given the chance to widen your worldview when living in a small town, inside a liberal bubble, in a state people in the rest of the country can’t even point out on a map. These exact reasons are why I jumped at the chance to visit a place with a nearly continental government, an institution the likes of which have never been seen before. Traveling abroad is a wonderful opportunity and learning experience, especially when combined with in-depth learning about world politics in the current political climate. It deeply interests me to learn about how everything is juggled between institutions, getting regional support, working on better trade, cooperating with volatile neighbor countries, countries making unpopular decisions, and foreign policy, while still managing to agree and be a leading world power. These are ambitious goals that are completely achievable with a strong system like this, and I can’t wait to see how they all fit together. I am also looking forward to speaking with Sweden’s Representative to the EU. Next year one of the three countries our Model UN team is representing is Sweden, and I can’t think of any better way to learn about Sweden than from one of the people who knows it best. I am really looking forward to meeting some of the people who make this whole operation work, while visiting such an amazing and historic country.

Catalina G.
I am really looking forward to this trip.  It will be really interesting to gain some more insight on transatlantic relations between the EU and the US.  I would especially like to gain some insight from government members in Brussels, both a UN and EU hotspot on their reactions to the US backing out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.  It will also be fascinating to learn more about the EU in general, and to learn about how it’s going to have to function differently after Brexit because I know the EU hit some bumps in November after the Brexit outcome.  I would also like to hear more about what that’s going to mean for the EU economy and the UK’s economy.  Another huge point of interest for me is Swedens feminist foreign policy and I would really like to know more about the impact it has in the EU.

Greta S.
If I’m honest, my initial reason for wanting to go to Brussels was because I had never left the country before and I knew my parents would say yes to this. However, my reasons for wanting to go were not all superficial. I knew my parents would say yes because they never say no to an opportunity to learn, and they knew that I would learn infinitely more going to Brussels than I would from any textbook or class. By going I am going to Brussels, I can see how what I learn is applied and how it is really played out. I can also ask questions that I want to know, and can find the answer to the question I want answered, and not ones that other people want answered. I also wanted to go because I wanted to see something different, and Brussels will be very different for me. I’ve had really similar experiences to all of my friends at school and just by being surrounded by people who aren’t exactly like me will teach me about who I am. I really love learning, and by going to Brussels I will gain factual, cultural, and personal knowledge, and I’m really excited for it.

Thanks for reading.